DTSC orders Union Pacific and Bayer to clean up former landfill in Richmond

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The California Department of Toxic Substances Control is ordering Union Pacific Railroad Company and Bayer CropScience, Inc. to clean up the former Blair Southern Pacific Landfill in Richmond. DTSC investigators found elevated levels of lead, banned pesticides like DDT, and radioactive material at the site.

SACRAMENTO - Today, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) ordered Union Pacific Railroad Company (UPRR) and Bayer CropScience, Inc. (Bayer) to clean up the former Blair Southern Pacific Landfill in Richmond under the state's Hazardous Substance Account Act (State Superfund law).

Today's enforcement action supports California's broader efforts to protect public health and the environment. The order requires the companies to safely remove and dispose of the radioactive materials in a permitted hazardous waste landfill, and it includes potential penalties of up to $25,000 per day for noncompliance.

"DTSC's decisive action to order cleanup of the former Blair Landfill will protect the community's long-term health and safety," said DTSC Director Katie Butler. "And it ensures the responsible parties, not California's communities, bear the cost of pollution cleanup. We will continue watching closely to make sure UPRR and Bayer comply with the order and complete cleanup activities to the highest standards."

There is no immediate public hazard at the site's fence line. However, the site wastes pose an unacceptable long-term risk. Investigators found elevated concentrations of radioactive material on site, and these materials emit ionizing radiation above normal background levels. In addition, the site is uncapped and sits along a creek and the Bay. Site wastes can wash off during each rain and high tide.

Bayer's predecessor company disposed of radioactive material at the site, and UPRR's predecessor company owned and leased the site for landfilling purposes. The six-acre former landfill, located along the San Francisco Bay shoreline, was used from the 1950s to the 1980s, before modern environmental laws were in place. During this time, the site was leased to landfill operators, who developed and operated the site as a series of landfills for disposal of industrial and non-industrial wastes.

View the order here.